Mylene Farmer

She has sold 25 million records and is among the most successful recording artists of all time in France.

Mylène Gautier was born in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada, a suburb (now borough) of Montreal. Her parents moved from France to Canada in the late 1950s as Farmer's father, Max, pursued an engineering contract on a dam. Her family returned to France when she was eight, settling in the Parisian suburb of Ville-d'Avray. In her teenage years, Farmer was passionate about horse-riding, going on to qualify as a riding instructor at the equestrian centre in Saumur. At 17, however, Mylene Farmer discovered her other passion, acting, and she abandoned the stables to take a three-year course at the Cours Florent, a drama school in Paris. Changing her name to Mylène Farmer (after her favourite American actress Frances Farmer), she began to earn a living as a model acting in several TV ads.

In 1984, Farmer met Laurent Boutonnat, a young film student also enrolled in Cours Florent, when she replied to a newspaper ad for an actress for a small film he was working on. Farmer and Boutonnat became friends and forged a creative partnership, writing and producing all her music. Boutonnat, whose ambition was to become a film director, was also the driving force behind Mylène’s videos. Much of Farmer's fame and success can be attributed to elaborate and theatrical music videos which are often eight minutes or longer. Her concerts and videos are often compared to those of Michael Jackson and Madonna ("Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" lasts 17 minutes, while "California" was directed by Abel Ferrara and cost $700,000).

Farmer gained fame with songs featuring ambiguous or shocking lyrics, and somewhat explicit music videos: "Maman a tort" was about the love of a young girl for her female hospital nurse. "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" was about a man with an obsession for the buttocks of his lover, with hints of sodomy; the video, set in the 18th century, featured a caning. "Libertine" is said to feature the first full frontal nudity appearance by a singer on a major music video. "Que mon cœur lâche" was about love with condoms in the age of AIDS; the video for the song features a scene in which God tells Jesus he won't send him to Earth again because the last time "it was a disaster."

Farmer is the most successful and provocative female French recording artist, the only artist to have each of her studio albums sell over a million copies in France. She is also popular in the French-speaking countries Belgium and Switzerland and is also liked in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe.

Boutonnat teamed up with the young songwriter, Jérôme Dahan, and the pair went on to write Farmer's first hit, "Maman a tort" - a single which rocketed straight to the top of the French charts as soon as it was released in March 1984. The video which accompanied the single release, cost the modest sum of 5,000 FR, but it would cause a veritable stir in the music world. Boutonnat cast Farmer as a kind of provocative Lolita figure, and the singer would deliberately cultivate this image in the early days of her career, especially on her début album, Cendres de Lune. This album, released in January 1986, proved to be an immense success, selling over 1 million copies.

"Libertine", the first single released from the album in March '86, set the tone for the whole Mylène Farmer style. Farmer’s sensual, romantic lyrics (which she wrote herself) were very much inspired by the great figures of 19th century literature and set to sophisticated melodies (written by Boutonnat). Boutonnat also took charge of directing Farmer’s videos, imposing his distinctive style on them. The video which accompanied "Libertine", for instance, is heavily charged with 18th century eroticism (conjuring up images of the film Barry Lyndon and the novels of the Marquis de Sade). Farmer, lit only in the glow of soft candlelight, is shrouded in an aura of mystery and sexual ambiguity. (This mysterious erotic ambience would continue to be the singer’s trademark throughout the rest of her career, infusing the following videos "Tristana" and "Sans contrefaçon").

In 1988, Boutonnat & Farmer began recording their second album, Ainsi soit je... (a play on the French expression Ainsi soit-il, meaning "Amen"). This album, infused with the same dark, erotic atmosphere as the singer’s previous work, featured songs inspired by Mylène’s favourite authors, the French romantic poet Baudelaire and the American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. Upon its release, the album soared to the top of the French charts and sold a staggering 1.8 million copies on the back of the million-selling hits "Sans contrefaçon" and "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", the latter becoming her first #1 single. At the time it was the best-selling album ever by a female artist in France.

In spite of all her drama courses, Farmer still found it difficult to overcome her natural shyness and perform in front of an audience. It was only after much hesitation that the singer finally agreed to do a live concert in 1989. After singing at a small venue in St Etienne, as a kind of test run, Farmer finally arrived in Paris to perform at the Palais des Sports where fans packed the auditorium out for a whole week in May. Farmer wasted no time in overcoming her stage fright and even appeared to enjoy performing on stage, for she followed the Paris concerts with an extensive tour which included 52 dates throughout France and Europe. A live album documenting the tour was released at the end of the year, simply titled En concert. The costumes were designed by the famous french designer Thierry Mugler.

Farmer's spectacular stage shows, together with her wacky appearance and piercing vocals, soon began to attract an increasing number of fans. Meanwhile Farmer continued to surround herself with an air of mystery, refusing to give interviews or to appear in the media - but this only served to excite fans' curiosity about the reclusive star.

primative
on Jun 3rd, 2013

I am trying to learn French so I can know her songs. I didn't find a 'Bleu Noir' with eng subtitles, so I tried a very rough trans using OSX dashboard phrase translation. Maybe someone well versed can clean this up if they want.
Bleu Noir
I walk towards
darkness
Towards the disastrous horizon
But the life which
surrounds me and
bathes me
Says to me: “Nevertheless that
is worth the sorrow”
And which can be
driven
In this convoy
I dedicate my
death to you
And I bleed,
still bleed
But the battle
is beautiful
That of the love
Disperses all
The battle is that long, long
days
My love
One can be
turned over
But the brook
resembles has water
When you leave
Jl remains only one
black blue about it
I fall in
failure
Vienna my
deliverance
Nevertheless ququ bottom of my Survit sorrow a couer runner tells me vermilion Which beats…
Because the battle is beautiful
That of the love Disperses all
The battle is that
long, long days
My love
<music>
But the battle
is beautiful
That of the love
Disperses all
The battle is that
long, long days
My love
credits:
End
Created by
Mylene FarmerHQ
(miguelbilro52)
Fait in:
Dec. 22 2010

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